Natsuki's Life Has Changed For The Better
by Windrises
Summary: Natsuki starts realizing how much her life has changed in the past few years.


Note: Mai-Hime is an anime that was done by the studio Sunrise.

A few years ago Natsuki Kuga was in high school. She and her fellow classmates were asked to describe how they felt about life. It wasn't that hard of a question for most of the students, but it was hard for Natsuki. She had a lot of drama and lots of villains to fight. She grabbed her pencil and started writing that life was a piece of garbage. She looked over at her best friend, Shizuru Fujino. Shizuru gave Natsuki one of her typical happy faces. Natsuki erased what she wrote and wrote that life is stressful and far from perfect, but it has some redeeming qualities.

A lot had changed for Natsuki during that time. She and Shizuru had started dating which made her life a lot brighter and it helped her have a more optimistic look on life. She looked in the mirror and saw her facial expression. During her high school years she had a more grumpy looking face, but now her face had a light smile on it. It was a big improvement and Natsuki knew that Shizuru deserved most of the credit for making her smile on a regular basis.

Natsuki got out her cellphone and decided to give Shizuru a call. Shizuru picked up her phone and answered it. She said, "Hi sweetheart."

Natsuki replied, "Hi Shizuru. I hope you don't mind me calling you."

Shizuru said, "Natsuki, getting a call from you is like getting a visit to paradise."

Natsuki paused. Shizuru always knew how to make Natsuki feel sentimental sweetness in her heart. Natsuki tried to brush off the blushing feelings while saying, "It's been about five days since we saw each other."

Shizuru replied, "Yes, too many days apart. My heart would light up, like the brightest bulb, if I got another chance to see you."

Natsuki said, "No need to be so overdramatic. We can see each other right now. Nobody's at home right now and I could use your company."

Shizuru smiled and replied, "Aww, you really miss me, don't you?"

Natsuki blushed and said, "Yes I do."

Shizuru replied, "I'm glad to hear it, because you have no idea how much I miss you."

Natsuki asked, "Can you come over please?"

Shizuru said, "I'd be honored to. I'll be there in a half hour."

Natsuki got excited and replied, "I'm so glad about that!" She blushed with embarrassment and said, "I'm moderately excited."

Shizuru responded, "You may be a genius, but you can't fool me. I can tell you're thrilled and I know that I feel the same way."

Natsuki said, "I look forward to seeing you. I love you."

Shizuru replied, "I love you too."

Natsuki looked at herself in the mirror and started talking to herself. She said, "Wow, you sure made yourself look silly. You might as well of screamed that Shizuru's the most adorable, beautiful thing ever and that you want to move in with her. You made yourself look so needy. Shizuru probably thinks that you're an oversensitive, fragile young lady. You're supposed to be the strong, brave hero." Natsuki realized that her rant was getting weird, so she stopped talking to the mirror.

A half hour later Shizuru arrived. Natsuki saw her coming to the door. She opened it and said, "Hi Shizuru."

Shizuru replied, "Hi honey."

Natsuki looked at Shizuru and saw that she was carrying some paper and pencils. Natsuki jokingly asked, "Do you have some homework to take care of?"

Shizuru said, "No, I have a favor to ask."

Natsuki replied, "Please come in first."

Shizuru responded, "Okay then." She walked inside and both she and Natsuki sat on the couch.

Natsuki asked, "What's the favor?"

Shizuru said, "A few years ago we were asked what we thought of life. It made me want us to write down what we thought of life again and see if we are happier with our lives than we were then."

Natsuki replied, "Well, if this is something that you really want to do I'll do it with you."

Shizuru smiled and responded, "Thank you honey." She handed a pencil and a piece of paper to Natsuki. Shizuru jokingly said, "Don't copy my answer."

Natsuki smiled back and replied, "Okay." Natsuki could hardly believe that she was in this situation again. She had to describe what her life was like. She figured the only thing to do was to honestly describe how she felt. She knew that her life had gotten better. She was in a much better mood, she treated her family and friends with more respect, and she appreciated the world a lot more. However, a lot of her new happiness came from Shizuru. Admitting that one person completely changed what her life was like was a little embarrassing. She felt nervous about saying that Shizuru is the main reason that her life has improved so much. It made her feel like an emotional weakling who had to depend on Shizuru for emotional support. She stopped writing.

Shizuru noticed that Natsuki wasn't writing anything, so she asked, "What's wrong?"

Natsuki had an unconfident look on her face while saying, "I'm not sure I have what it takes to write this. Plus, my answer is kind of embarrassing."

Shizuru put her arm around Natsuki and said, "Honey, you don't have to write this if you don't want to, but you shouldn't feel embarrassed about telling me anything. You know that I'll never mock you. I'll always support your feelings and choices. You've grown a lot and I'm proud of the young woman that you've become."

Natsuki felt comfort from Shizuru's words. She thought about her recent years and realized that she was responsible for her own choices. Shizuru helped her a lot, but Natsuki made the choice to be more polite and sociable on her own. Natsuki felt she had the confidence to write how she felt about life.

Five minutes later Natsuki and Shizuru finished writing down their feelings about life. Shizuru said, "Thank you for agreeing to do this. Can you say what you wrote first?"

Natsuki shook off her feelings of embarrassment and replied, "Sure." She started reading her paper out loud. She said, "Life is a good thing. Yes, there is sadness and stress, but having the right amount of determination and optimism can help you get through the madness of life. Everybody must lead their own self-discovery journey and I believe that I've done that. However, I owe a lot of my happiness to Shizuru. She's the strongest element of my heart and her love and support makes me like life more than I've ever had."

Shizuru cried a few tears of happiness and replied, "That's wonderful sweetheart. I'm glad that I mean so much to you."

Natsuki said, "It's your turn to explain your feelings on life."

Shizuru replied, "Okay then." She started reading the paper out loud. She said, "The last time I wrote about life, I explained that I was mostly happy with life. I've always had a bright outlook on the world and I'm often in a cheerful mood. However, there was one element that was missing: a partner to share my love with. My heart knew who my one true love was and it was my best friend, Natsuki Kuga. She and I were the best of friends of friends, but I wanted to be the best of girlfriends. My heart dearly hoped that she would get a crush on me too. I was starting to worry that it wouldn't happen, but I was thankful that she finally started to think of me as a girlfriend."

Natsuki held hands with Shizuru while saying, "I didn't know that your previous paper about life was about you feeling sad."

Shizuru replied, "It was a mostly happy paper, but I was a little sad about not being together with you."

Natsuki felt guilty while saying, "I'm sorry Shizuru. I wish I would of realized my crush on you earlier."

Shizuru replied, "Well, the point of doing this paper again was to see if our lives had gotten better and I assure you that my life has gotten better, because of you. My heart felt lost without you. Thank you for guiding me to ultimate happiness." She smiled at Natsuki and asked, "Has your life gotten better?"

Natsuki said, "My life sure has gotten better and you're the one who made my life better. I was embarrassed to admit how much you've changed my life, but you've made my life so much better. My heart has so many passionate feelings of cheerfulness, because of you."

Shizuru hugged Natsuki and replied, "I'm so glad to hear that. You're the best thing in my life."

Natsuki responded, "And you're the best thing in mine."

Shizuru kissed Natsuki. Natsuki blushed. Shizuru saw that and said, "It seems like you never fail to get a blush in."

Natsuki tried to stop blushing while replying, "You make me blush like five times per date."

Shizuru smiled and said, "It's the most adorable thing ever."

Natsuki blushed again and replied, "Oh no. I feel like you say overly cute things to make me blush."

Shizuru responded, "I sure do."

Natsuki said, "Shizuru, thinking you for making me like life. You are the Queen of my heart."

Shizuru replied, "But you're the Queen of mine."

Natsuki jokingly said, "Then lets be queens together."

Shizuru snuggled up to Natsuki and replied, "We rule the kingdom of each other's hearts." Natsuki and Shizuru were thankful for each other for replacing their previously sad lives with a kingdom of the highest form of happiness and true love.


End file.
